Chapter 21 – Solo Raid (２)

Woo Jimin.

Guild Master of the second-largest guild in the Republic of Korea, one of the top ten in the entire world.

She held the number-one rank among archers, and the number of dungeons she’d cleared was beyond counting.

Even guilds ranked in the global top three would request Jiyun’s help if a raid absolutely required an archer.

But right now, Gijun was oddly confident.

Because he trusted in his own ability.

With yesterday’s training, he was absolutely certain of his dual-casting.

So what was there to fear?

“I’m Baek Gijun.”

At his words, Woo Jimin gave a slight smile.

“Seeing you in person, you’re even more handsome? If you join our guild, I’ll take good care of you, so make sure you come. Got it?”

From the news and newspapers, Woo Jimin had seemed like a stern person, but meeting her in person, that wasn’t the case at all.

Suddenly, Gijun looked past Woo Jimin to the area behind her.

The Superhumans of Hwarang were eyeing Gijun with open curiosity.

A few murmured among themselves.

He couldn’t make out the words from here, but it wasn’t hard to guess the topic.

His Circle.

And what kind of change had come over it.

Doesn’t matter.

That old inferiority over his Circle was gone now—completely.

And in its place, confidence.

Whatever they were thinking, he knew he could flip it entirely.

Just then, the Vice Guild Master standing beside Woo Jimin cleared his throat.

“As you may already know, this dungeon is a solo dungeon—a time-attack format. Time limit: six hours. If you fail to clear it within that window, the dungeon collapses—and you die.”

He held something out as he spoke.

“A Return Stone. It’s preset to activate automatically at five hours and fifty-nine minutes after entry.”

Gijun took the stone.

Which was a polite way of saying that using it meant failure.

“Ah—and of course, if you feel you’re in genuine danger, you can destroy the stone early. It’ll still send you back.”

The Vice Guild Master met Gijun’s eyes as he said it.

Gijun held his gaze.

“Good eyes. I have high expectations. Well then—good luck.”

At that, Woo Jimin and her Vice Guild Master stepped back.

Jimin shot him a wink, mouthing the words: You have to join our guild, okay?

The mismatch between the woman he’d seen on the news and the one standing in front of him threw him for a second.

But he found he liked that mismatch.

Either way, the raid was here—right in front of him.

Gijun turned his gaze toward the dungeon.

The Gate had already opened; the portal pulsed with a blue light.

It wasn’t tension he felt—it was excitement.

Let’s go.

Fully equipped, he took a step toward the portal.

Today’s the day my life changes for real.

He was sure of it.

*

He entered the dungeon.

True to its name, an endless grassland spread before him.

But the air was thick with the stench of blood.

Ralph.

Nasty bastards.

Predators that didn’t know fear.

They never fled—just stalked their prey to the bitter end.

Worst possible matchup for a mage.

Even if it took a bit longer, this dungeon was built for physical-type Superhumans.

For a wizard who needed to cast spells, Ralphs pouring in from every direction were a nightmare.

Can’t exactly whine about it, though.

Which dungeon you drew was pure luck.

Countless Superhumans had gone through this before him.

No choice in the matter.

You took the dungeon you were given and you cleared it.

If you were scared? You gave up. Simple as that.

Which only made it a stage worth even more.

‘So I need to give it everything I’ve got too…’

But then a stunning message appeared.

[Achievable Achievements]

– Defeat 1000 Ralph within 1 hour (0/1000)

– Clear the dungeon within 3 hours 30 minutes

‘…What the hell is this?’

A phenomenon he’d never seen before.

Yet it was real.

‘No way. Seriously.’

Now it was even showing him the achievements in advance.

But these achievements came with absurd conditions.

‘Especially the second one — the 3 hour 30 minute clear…’

A level 2 solo dungeon cleared in 3 hours 30 minutes.

That record was the world record.

It was telling him to break it.

Of course, the difficulty was insane.

A record no one in the world expected Gijun to achieve.

Even Gijun himself found it hard to be sure.

But…

‘If I succeed?’

That would be a jackpot.

It meant Gijun could skyrocket to stardom in one leap.

The only question was whether it was possible.

Setting aside the second achievement, even the first one had a difficulty that made no sense.

Still, Gijun thought.

‘Let’s do it.’

Let’s achieve that ridiculous achievement.

‘I’ve got nothing to lose anyway.’

On the other hand, the payoff for success was enormous.

The reward for the achievement, plus social fame on top of it.

A golden opportunity to get everything he wanted in one go.

‘Alright. Let’s give it a shot.’

Steeling his resolve, Gijun began to move.

As he walked, he formulated a strategy.

He already knew about the Ralph.

Those bastards were monsters that had appeared frequently, and thanks to that, he’d been thoroughly educated on them at the Academy.

‘The clear condition for Ralph’s Plains is defeating the Ralph Chieftain.’

The Ralph Chieftain.

The most ferocious and largest among the Ralph.

That bastard was a monster comparable to an Orc.

A monster that could tear a mage like Gijun apart with one hand.

‘There’ll be at least a thousand of them in here.’

Ralph were monsters that lived in tribes.

A single tribe of Ralph contained roughly several thousand members.

The exact number was unknown, but on average, it was 1500 to 2000.

‘For a level 2 dungeon… there probably won’t be more than two tribes.’

If it were a dungeon housing two or more tribes of Ralph, it would definitely have been rated level 2 or higher.

‘What I need to watch out for is that touching one Ralph brings the whole pack down on you.’

Literally.

Ralph had a strong pack mentality.

Touch one, and they’d swarm you in a horde.

But without defeating the Ralph, it was impossible to take down the Chieftain.

Because at least a hundred Ralph would be guarding the Chieftain’s surroundings.

In the end, it meant he had no choice but to somehow kill all the Ralph.

Still, there was some hopeful news.

‘At least not all thousand will come at me at once.’

Even with their strong pack mentality, the bastards had assigned roles.

Each one had its own designated territory to defend.

As such, the number of Ralph that would gather at once was about a hundred or so.

‘Then I’ll have to use that to my advantage.’

It was their habit to assign territories and guard the area around their village.

All I had to do was exploit that trait.

If I played it right, I figured I could take on the Ralphs even alone.

First, let’s scout the terrain.

Jun decided to look for ground that would give him the biggest advantage fighting solo.

I need to make a last stand.

If it came down to fighting and killing every last one of them, the easiest way would be to fight without exposing my back.

Find somewhere narrow with a wall behind me.

For a one-versus-many fight, a tight space was the best option.

Keeping low, Jun moved slowly across the plains, scanning the ground.

It wasn’t long before he found a suitable spot.

That’ll do.

He eyed the terrain standing apart from the open field.

High ridges rose on either side.

Exactly the kind of last-stand ground he wanted.

But Jun wasn’t ready to fight just yet.

He was still some distance from the spot he’d chosen.

There’s one thing I need to do before the fighting starts.

Jun glanced down at the bundle of grass in his hand.

He’d gathered it on the way here.

This wasn’t ordinary grass.

It was a plant called ‘Ralph’s Beard’ that grew near the Ralph tribe’s territory.

Ralph’s Beard was critical to the Ralphs.

I’ll use this Ralph’s Beard to send the signal.

That was the key.

When burned, Ralph’s Beard gave off smoke in different colors depending on how long you burned it.

The color served as a signal.

First, twenty seconds.

Burn it for twenty seconds, and Ralph’s Beard released blue smoke.

Blue smoke meant ‘enemy spotted.’

I need to split their attention.

The plan was to gather one group of Ralphs this way, then head to the pre-chosen terrain and light it again.

A strategy that took advantage of the Ralphs’ fixed guard zones.

Whoosh!

Flame flared up over Jun’s hand, licking along the Ralph’s Beard.

The moment blue smoke rose, distant barking echoed from far off.

They’re coming.

The moment they spotted the smoke, they’d started charging toward this spot.

Good. Now I…

In the same instant, Jun was already running.

After another hundred meters or so, he lit another clump of Ralph’s Beard.

After splitting the Ralphs’ attention like that several times,

Jun finally stood in the terrain he’d picked out earlier and lit the Ralph’s Beard one last time.

Whoosh!

Blue smoke began to rise.

Soon, barking sounded again from the opposite direction.

Grr-woof! Woof! Woof!

A massive pack of Ralphs was bounding toward him at full speed.

They weren’t just running straight in.

They fanned out fast, ready to dive at him from left, right, and above all at once.

Greedy drool dripped from their jaws.

They saw him as nothing more than prey.

*

Rrrrrrgh!

Kreung! Kreu-haeng!

The Ralphs howled as they fixed their eyes on Gijun.

It was the cry of a predator stalking its prey.

To them, he was nothing more than a morsel of meat.

A foolhardy prey that had jumped straight into the heart of their den.

For them, it was nothing short of welcome.

But… as they drew closer to Gijun, a foreboding unease began to creep in.

Because Gijun’s demeanor was nothing like that of prey.

Normally, any prey would have already been terrified and fled.

Or, if not that, they’d be trembling, frozen in panic, devoured by fear.

That wasn’t the case.

He was smiling.

‘?!’

The situation was utterly incomprehensible.

How could prey smile in the face of a beast?

It wasn’t a bluff.

Their instincts were telling them so.

That smile wasn’t a facade—it came from genuine confidence.

Still, that changed nothing.

He was just one.

Kreu-haeng!

With a single Ralph’s bark, the pack fanned out swiftly.

The surest way to tear prey apart was to surround it from all sides.

Of course, his rear was completely blocked off, but that didn’t matter.

From the right, from the left, and from above.

If they all converged at once, even he wouldn’t be able to handle it!

In that instant…

“!!”

The eyes of the Ralphs leaping into the air went wide.

Whoosh!

“!!”

Fireballs came flying in.

Two of them, simultaneously.

It’s fine.

They knew from experience.

Those attacks weren’t all that powerful.

They had already torn countless mages apart alive — they could tell.

Kruu-raah!

—Don’t be afraid, charge in!

The cry from somewhere spurred them on, and they didn’t stop.

And then they met.

Those fireballs.

In that moment, consciousness was severed.

That was the end.

Thud! Thud-thud!

The Ralphs that had recklessly lunged into the air soon fell to the ground, stiff and lifeless.

“…!!!”

A heavy silence fell.

The fireballs had been far stronger than expected.

But that changed nothing.

The sacrifice of their comrade moments ago must have created an opening in his attack.

Those human mages who shot fireballs couldn’t fire them continuously.

They knew that very well.

So all they had to do was exploit that gap.

Already, Ralph packs from left and right were charging furiously at their prey.

In that moment,

“…!”

The two fireballs split, one veering left, one right.

And they streaked sharply, homing in precisely on the Ralphs.

There was no room to dodge.

No, even if they tried to avoid them, the fireballs tracked them as if alive.

Unbelievable.

Boom! Kwaang! Kwa-kwa-kwang!

Explosions erupted.

The Ralphs charging ahead were launched into the air, shredded and mangled.

Grrr… Gruk!

The Ralphs faltered, confusion rippling through their pack.

In an instant, the vanguard was wiped out.

An unbelievable sight.

Fireballs surged from both directions as if alive.

And between them, there was no gap—none of the empty space they’d expected.

The explosions simply refused to stop, one after another, relentless.

For a moment, a primal fear flickered through them.

—Can we even dodge those fireballs?

It was the terror of facing flames that moved like living things, a dread that whispered they had no hope of escape.

But these weren’t Ralphs that would halt here.

Kkheooong!

Keoong! Kong!

A howl erupted from somewhere, spreading through the pack like wildfire.

Though shaken, the roar commanded them not to falter—the situation still favored them, so charge on without fear.

The Ralphs ran again.

From above, from the sides.

But soon, they realized something.

Kwaruk! Kwaaaaa!

That the explosions from moments ago had only been the beginning.

A sudden gust of wind.

It swept across the fallen Ralphs, catching the flames clinging to their bodies and spreading them in an instant.

The fire blazed out of control, surging unchecked.

It happened in a flash.

The flames stretched toward every Ralph charging in, consuming them all.

Kyaaaaa!

Kraaaaaaa!

From all around, the Ralphs’ agonized howls tore through the air.

It wasn’t their prey that had leaped into hell.

It was them—they had charged straight into it.

This was hell.

A true, horrifying inferno.